We’re Kathey and Rob Raskin of Las Vegas and we care about foster children in this country. And we could learn something from Ireland.
The Irish government’s decision to present obligatory reporting of child protection issues will be seen by several people as a breakthrough development. Following decades of assurances, today there is a legal requirement for professionals who work with, or have contact with children, to raise any concerns they might have to social services regarding a child’s welfare. This sends a message to the community that child welfare is extremely important. However, there are more and more concerns about whether the system will be able to cope with the expected outpouring of child protection complaints.
Tusla, the Irish Child and Family Agency, will require enough staff and resources to be able to respond to referrals in a timely fashion. Right now, this is not the case. Even in Ireland the department is lacking funding and political will. There is not enough right now to help prevent issues instead of simply taking care of them after the fact, after a child has been harmed typically.
The indication from other countries who’ve introduced similar procedures is that solely expanding the system doesn’t make enough of a positive effect. While it encourages a culture of reporting issues, it doesn’t really foster a shared responsibility through the community for intervening on behalf of vulnerable children. As Dr. Helen Buckley of Trinity College Dublin has pointed out, this may create a kind of “social” emergency department, like one seen in a hospital. It will be fraught with the same high thresholds, waiting lists, overworked staff, and short-term responses as the ER.
The failings of the child protection system are universal. There is a lack of early involvement, excessive focus on fire-fighting emergency cases, poor co-operation between State department, and late responses to neglect and welfare concerns. In Ireland, these issues have been reported over the past 20 years and it’s the same in America.
Mandatory reporting isn’t enough. A sustained investment and even wider reform are needed. There are real dangers young people in foster care will continue to face as they fall through the cracks. These are the most vulnerable children among us and they need more then reports, which do help, they need our departments to do better and receive better funding.
Our foster homes and systems must be held accountable, children’s lives are at stake. Silence can be a killer and so can a lack of response. On our Kathey and Rob Raskin Stop DHR webpage, you can report complaints. Do so today and do your part to encourage your state officials to provide our foster children with better care through improved resources.